A notorious terrorist, Dogo Gide, and his members have claimed responsibility for shooting down a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) helicopter near Chukuba Ward in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
Newsmen earlier reported that a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft, on Monday, took off from Kaduna en route to Minna, the Niger state capital when the incident occurred at about 1:00 pm.
In a statement on Monday, the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Edward Gabkwet, said the aircraft was on a casualty evacuation mission when the crash happened.
He said that the aircraft had departed Zungeru Primary School en route Kaduna but was later discovered to have crashed near Chukuba Village in Niger state.
But in a viral video allegedly recorded at the site of Monday's Air Force jet crash, Gide, and his group claimed responsibility for the accident.
In the less-than-three minutes clip, the terrorists claimed they killed dozens of soldiers on the plane.
The video showed terrorists wielding AK-47s. The aircraft had the inscription NAF 582.
The narrator said: "These are bodies belonging to soldiers of the Nigerian Army who attacked us with the intention of causing us harm.
"They did this to see the downfall of Dogo Gide and by God's grace, he is still alive and won't die.
"These are dozens of soldiers as you can see them. This is their airplane. Repent, we have no business with anyone except those who try to come for us. This is God's work. We used an AK-47 to bring down this plane.
"Take a look at them. Let this be a lesson. You all should repent. It is not our intention to kill but for everyone to be enlightened and have the fear of God. Leaders who sent these soldiers our way to be killed by us should repent.
"We won't surrender from pressure or even an aeroplane. Dogo Gide, who is their target, won't die now. He is still alive. These are the AK-47s we used to bring down this plane.
"We opened fire when we sighted them and they did the same. Repent and fear God. We pray for God's mercy at all times. This is God's work and not ours as you can see."
A resident, Simon Bulus, told The Nation: "The Dogo Gide terrorist group operates in the forest."
"When we heard continuous gunshots, we took to our heels. But we saw shots being fired at the helicopter," a resident, Haruna Ibrahim, said.
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